he won the election. he now has the right, morally and politically to force his version of a deal upon people. we also have to consider the dynamics of congress. you know, boehner is going to be coming up to a speaker election january 3rd. all it will require is 17 republicans to overthrow him if they don't support him. that is a tiny number. you could argue this is inherently unstable. you could argue that maybe we're going to get it. some talk about bringing him an outside speaker like john huntsman. and i don't see that happening. but you get a sense of anything could happen in this system. >> and maybe it's a benefit. maybe in the long-term, but certainly right now there does seem to be a sense that it is a small group of people holding the rest of the process hostage. >> oh, yes. i'm trying to find something good to say about something. because the alternative is china, you know? i'd rather have a -- >> is that the case, though? is there not an alternative that you see and other examples as you look